Sustainability ongoing lesson at South Fremantle Senior High School

BEING greener and cleaner is an important philosophy for South Fremantle Senior High School.

The school’s Carbon Neutral Project, where staff and students vow to reduce fossil fuel use, implement renewable energy projects and capture carbon emissions through tree planting, earned it the title of Australia’s first Carbon Neutral High School.

But its work is not done yet, with South Fremantle SHS carbon neutral officer Steve McGill saying that while achieving such positive national recognition had been a positive step for the school, it would continue its push for a more sustainable community.

“The school has a recycling program that sees about 30 to 40 per cent of waste diverted from landfill and recycled,” he said.

“We also do an annual tree planting excursion and there have been a range of activities over the year, including efficiency measures (high efficiency lighting, heating/air conditioning, sensors, etc), monitoring (energy/water) and gardening.

“While some initiatives have not always resulted in success, on the whole we have created conversation and provided an example of what is possible when the school administration, community and students are committed to achieving sustainable outcomes.

“It is extremely important to foster interest and leadership in sustainability as it will be current students who will have to clean up and deal with the implications resulting from our unsustainable lifestyles.”